Very sad and unfortunate, test pilots run one of the riskiest jobs out there.

F-22 is for air dominance first and foremost. The fact that one crashed with a test pilot probably means they were testing something. Not like they're going to just flat out tell the world what went wrong when they might not even know.

This plane was designed in the 80's to combat migs. What does the U.S. use this plane for? How do you crash the best fighter in the world? I don't get it.

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The plane was conceived in the 80's. But the F-22 is chock full of space age technology as they are continuously fitted with newer technology before they enter service. Its stealth technology and the thrust vectoring make it unparalleled. Why does the US need it? Believe it or not, threat of war with a militarily advanced nation is more prevalent than many think.

But even the most advanced plane is run with extremely complex machinery and programming. And there's the human factor. This is an unfortunate and sad case. But like the B2 crash that happened last year, we may never hear the cause of the crash. Which is fine for us, as long as they can fix the problem for the pilots.

the best jet for everything was the F-14 tomcat.. was great in a dog fight
been around since 74 retiring in 06.. was replaced by the super hornet
As of 2008, it remains in service only with the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force.

The plane was conceived in the 80's. But the F-22 is chock full of space age technology as they are continuously fitted with newer technology before they enter service. Its stealth technology and the thrust vectoring make it unparalleled. Why does the US need it? Believe it or not, threat of war with a militarily advanced nation is more prevalent than many think.

But even the most advanced plane is run with extremely complex machinery and programming. And there's the human factor. This is an unfortunate and sad case. But like the B2 crash that happened last year, we may never hear the cause of the crash. Which is fine for us, as long as they can fix the problem for the pilots.

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actually, they released what happened in that B-2 crash. basically it has onboard pressure sensors that detect air pressure and use it to determine altitude. during a pre-flight check, they were reading too high so the crew recalibrated them. they didn't realize that the reason they were too high was moisture in the sensor. while they're taxiing out to the runway, the pilot throws on the sensor heaters, drying up the moisture. but because of the earlier recalibration, now the senors are reading too low. the B-2 proceeds to take off, but just after liftoff the computer kicks in and tries to pull up because it thinks its too low. the aircraft didn't have enough airspeed to pull up, so the plane stalled, the pilots ejected and the plane crashed.

obviously this was an expensive procedural error, as they probably should've dried out the sensors before calibrating them.

as for the F-22, dont' know now what happened, could be any number of a million things. sad for the pilot and his family. i live near Langley so i see Raptors flying almost every day, awesome plane. hopefully this was a fluke accident.

This plane was designed in the 80's to combat migs. What does the U.S. use this plane for? How do you crash the best fighter in the world? I don't get it.

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So you're saying that the best fighter in the world should never crash? That's hardly possible. With that logic, we should transfer all of our combat aircraft in the entire military to "the best we have" and we would never have another crash ever in the future of the US Military.

So you're saying that the best fighter in the world should never crash? That's hardly possible. With that logic, we should transfer all of our combat aircraft in the entire military to "the best we have" and we would never have another crash ever in the future of the US Military.

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Look, goddamit, I'm getting a little weary of you busting all in here with your "common sense" and your "reasonable posts." I'm about two seconds away from notifying the VA that there's a mentally ill Marine out there.

the best jet for everything was the F-14 tomcat.. was great in a dog fight
been around since 74 retiring in 06.. was replaced by the super hornet
As of 2008, it remains in service only with the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force.

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not sure you can really call Iran's Tomcats "in service" as they only have half of them working and really no weapons for them.

UAV's are not yet at a stage where it's FEASIBLE to make an Air Superiority drone. It's not a simple matter of plugging in a remote control unit, after all.

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You're right, of course, on both points--feasibility and simplicity.

That being said, UAVs were functionally impossible twenty years ago, when the F-22 wasn't feasible either but design began. The point is that pursuing advancments in manned aircraft is ridiculous. The technology exists to begin developing unmanned air superiority aircraft, and it's certainly far enough along to do so with strike/bombers like the FB-22 is intended to be.

The Air Force and the Navy like manned aircraft because of the pilot culture. The contractors like 'em 'cause of the money.

But UAVs are cheaper, potentially capable of better performance (no human to pass out = 20 g turns), don't place humans at risk (making more aggressive manuvers possible), can stay up much, much, much longer (again, no humans, just need to refuel...ideally from other unmanned aircraft), and honestly, have no downsides compared to manned craft.

Put Twin Twist in front of four monitors in a trailer out at Fort Huachuca, give 'em all the Mountain Dew and Skittles he wants, and turn 'em loose.